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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. AL-BROWER. CAR COUPLING.

No. 503,646. Patented Aug. 22, 1893.

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(No Model.)

ID1085031346. Patentd Aug. '22, 1 893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ASHER A. BROVVER, OF DES MO INES, IOWA, ASSIGN OR OF TlVO-THIRDS TO .W.M. MCFARLAND AND W. W. ORRIS, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 503,646, dated August22, 1893.

I Application filed December 27, 1892. Serial No. 456,503. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ASHER A. BROWER, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State ofIowa,have invented a Car-Coupling, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, durable and automaticcar coupling adapted to carry a reserve link; to provide means wherebythe link may be retained in a pendent position when not in use and alsoadjusted and held extended forward at any desired angle and elevation bya person at the side of a car as required in coupling two cars whentheir draw heads are not in the same horizontal plane.

My invention consists in the construction and formation of the draw headwhereby a link maybe secured therein by a hook and be capable of amovement from a vertical to a horizontal position.

My invention consists further in the construction, arrangement andcombination with a draw head of means wherebya link may be placed at anydesirable incline to engage coupling devices located at differentheights relative to the track surface, and in certain other features inthe construction, arrangement and combination of parts as hereinafter 0more specifically set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of twoof the couplings attached to cars and in a coupled 3 5 position one ofsaid couplers being shown in vertical longitudinal section. Fig. 2 is avertical transverse sectional view through the line a:-w of Fig. 1. Fig.3 is a top view of the same with parts of the draw head broken away toshow its interior construction. Fig.

4 is an enlarged perspective view of the link engaging hook. Fig. 5 isan enlarged perspective view of the device for elevating the link. Fig.6 is a side elevation of two couplers attached to cars and in acoupledposition one of said couplers being shown in longitudinal section toillustrate certain modifications of the device shown in Fig. 1. Fig.7 is

a perspective view of the coupler in its modified' form attached to acar, as required for practical use.

Referring to the accompanying drawings the reference letter A is used todesignate the car, A a draw bar secured thereto in the ordinary mannerand having its draw head formed as follows:

A designates a link cavity extending from the face of the draw headrearwardly and having its bottom surface inclined and rounded in such amanner as to direct a link into said cavity. In the rear of saidinclined surface is a cavity A of such a size and shape as to allow theend of a link to be placed therein below the plane of said inclinedsurface. Portions of the bottom of 6 the draw head are also removed toproduce parallel slots A A and a link support A adapted to allow a linkwhen placed in the link cavity through the open front of the draw headto swing to a vertical position and have its top below the plane of thebottom of the link cavity: that is:the bottom portion of the draw head,A, extending from a point below the rear end of the link cavity consistsof a straight piece of metal integral with the draw head and runninglongitudinally thereof in its central portion and having an upwardlyinclined surface on its front face and a notch in the rear of saidinclined surface, in which a link may be hung to swing from a horizontalto a vertical position, and be below the plane of the bottom of the linkcavity when in a vertical position.

B designates a hook for engaging the link. This hook is fixed to a rockshaft B in the rear of the draw head to swing vertically a portion ofthe top of the draw head being re moved for this purpose. The pivotalpoint of the hook B is preferably at or below its draft center, so thata pull upon a link engaged thereby will not tend to .raise the hook.

B designates a rotatable shaft mounted in suitable bearings secured tothe end of a car and B is a chain wound thereupon and secured to a leverB which lever is fixed to the 5 said rock shaft 13 to provide means forraising or lowering said hook from the side of the car.

B designatesa detachable covering placed on top of the draw head toallowafree movetoo ment of the hook B and protect the same from snow,ice, disc.

I have provided means for raising the links from a verticalposi tion toany desirable incline in order to couple with draw heads located atvarious distances from the ground surface, as follows:

O O designate two bent levers joined near their lower ends by the crosspiece 0 and loosely mounted at their top end portions upon the endsofthe rock shaft B in such a manner as to depend from the sides of thedraw head and to have their lower ends adapted to enter the slots B inthe bottom of the draw head when raised.

the top surface of one of the levers near its point of attachment withthe rock shaft'B and O design-ates a chain fixed to said hook and woundupon the rotatable shaft 13 in'an opposite direction fro-m the chain Bso that when one is wound up. the other is loosen-ed. Thus it will beseen that a rotation of the shaft B in one direction will raise the hookB and when rotated in an opposite direc a tion will raise the outer endof a link in the coupler. In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7 ithe chain B is shown to be extended through i an opening in the top ofthe detachable cover B andattached direct to the hook B which in thisinstance is not pivoted to any support but has its rear end rounded andplaced in'a rounded cavity in the draw'head and h'as'its front faceinclined downwardly and forwardly to engagea mating portion of the drawhead, so that-a forward pull upon the hook will prevent the same frombeing raised and the curved lovers, 0, C, have their upper ends ex.-tended upwardly and forwardlyand are united above the draw head and havethe chain 0 connected therewith and said chain, 0 isv wound upon a drumD to move the levers G O a greater distance upon each revolution of theshaft B Having thus described theconstruction, op?

eration, and function of each part of the-coup V ler,-what I claim as myinvention, and desire to i secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesi therefor, is- A,

1. In a car coupling a draw-headha-ving a link cavity, a notch in therear of the link i cavity toadmit the end of the linkand slots in thebottomof the draw head to allow a link having its end in the aforesaidnotch to swing to a vertical position and nieanslfor elevating the outerend of said link.

2. In a car coupling a draw head having a link cavity a notch in therear of the link cavity adapted to admit the end of the link and allowit to pass below the bottom of the link cavity for the purposes statedslots in the bottom of the draw head to allow a link when placed in thesaid notch to swing to a vertical position and means for elevating theouter end 7 of said link.

3. In acar coupling the combination of the following elements, to wit: adraw head having a link cavity adapted to admit a link and allow it toswing from a horizontal to a vertical position, two bent levers pivotedto the op- C designates a hook formed on or fixed to posite sides of thecar and h'avingthe'ir lower ends adapted to engage the link and meansfor manually operating the said levers from the side of a car to elevatethe outer end of the link for the purposes stated.

4;. In a car coupling the comb'na ""on of the followingelements, to wit:a draw bar connected with a car in the ordinary-manner a draw headformed thereon and provided with a link cavity, a. notch formed in therear end of, the link cavity as set forth, slots for-med I in the sidesof the bottom of the draw head for the purposes stated, a hook fixed toa rock shaft in the rear end of the draw head and adapted to engage thebottom of the link cavity inadvance of said notch, two bentleversloosely mounted upon asuitab'lesupport at the sides of the drawhead and adapted to be brought into engagement with the said link, toelevateits outer end, a rotatable shaft mounted in suitable bearingsattached to the end of the car to be manually operated,-a chain attachedto said shaft and to the rock shaft to which the said hook is fixed anda chain wound upon the said shat-tin an opposite direction from theaforesaid one and attached to the bent levers substantially in themanner set forth for the purposes stated.

In a car coupling, adrawih eadhaving an open-mouthed link-cavity an dparallel slots 2 extendingfrom the front of the1draw head rearward, alink support extending forward between the said slots and providedw-itha depressionin its top surface toad'r'nitthe front of a hook, and ahook: pivoted in the linkcavity and adapted to pass thrcughxan openlinkand enter and rest in the said depression ins'aid link support, in themanner set forth, for thepurposes stated. V g

, ASHER A. BROWER. Witnesses:

W. J SANKEY, THOMAS G. ORWIG.

